Adidas Basketball Shoes

“Play by the rules. But be ferocious.”

Starting The Business

Like Fred Smith and the origins of FedEx, Philip Knight’s first ideas of what would become Nike Inc. came to him while he was at

school. While working on his master’s at Stanford, Knight – an accomplished runner during his undergraduate days at the University

of Oregon – wrote an essay that outlined a plan to overcome the monopoly Adidas had on the running shoe market. He thought the way

to realize this was to employ cheap Japanese labour to make a shoe both better and cheaper.

The plan was put into action shortly after graduating in 1962. Knight went to Japan to meet with the executives of Onitsuka Tiger

Co., a manufacturer of imitation Adidas runners, claiming to be the head of a company called Blue Ribbon Sports (which did not

exist, except in his mind). Knight convinced Tiger to export their shoes to the States though Blue Ribbon and had them send samples

so his associates could inspect them.

Knight paid for the samples with money from his father. He sent a few pairs to Bill Bowerman, Knight’s track coach from his days at

the University of Oregon, who became interested in the venture. Knight and Bowerman became partners and put 0 each into the

purchase of 200 pairs of Tigers. Blue Ribbon Sports was formed, and Knight began going to high school track and field events

selling the shoes from the trunk of his car.

Sales were at million dollars when Knight chose to dissolve the partnership with Tiger in the early 1970s. Blue Ribbon began

producing its own line and began selling its Nike line (named after the Greek goddess of victory) in 1972. These first Nike shoes

were adorned with the now-internationally recognizable swoosh logo – which Knight had commissioned for – and had the

traction-improving “waffle soles”, conceived of by Bowerman while watching his wife using a waffle iron.

Building An Empire

Blue Ribbon’s success (renamed Nike in 1978) throughout the 1970s and into the ’80s can largely be attributed to Knight’s marketing

strategy. He thought it best not to push his Nike shoes though advertising, but rather to let expert athletes endorse his product.

Fortune smiled on Knight as his partner Bill Bowerman became the coach of the American Olympic team and many of the best performers

on the team decided to shod their feet with Nikes. Of course, when the runners performed well, the shoes they wore were

highlighted. Steve Prefontaine, a brash and unconventional American record-holder, became the first spokesperson for Nike shoes.

After the tennis player John McEnroe hurt his ankle, he began wearing a Nike three-quarter-top shoe, and sales of that particular

brand jumped from 10,000 pairs to over 1 million. As Knight had hoped, celebrity athlete’s endorsements brought success to the

company. Knight also capitalized on a jogging craze, and through clever marketing persuaded the consumer that they should only be

wearing the best the best in the world.

The Air Jordans helped the company continue to thrive into the 1980s. In their first year, the shoe made more than 0 million.

Knight realized his initial goal of replacing Adidas as the number the one shoe manufacturer globally in 1986. By then, total sales

had surpassed billion. However, by neglecting the growing interest in aerobics shoes, Nike would have to face a few

difficulties.

Through Problems and Controversy

Sales dropped 18% between 1986 and 1987 as Reebok’s trendy, stylish aerobics shoes came to be in high demand. Knight had to

acknowledge that the technical achievements of the Nike shoe would not satisfy those who placed appearance above performance. The

Nike Air was Knight’s response to Reebok. It revived sales and put Nike back in the number one spot in 1990.

Corporate Monster that it had become, Nike was the object of public outrage in 1990 when stories of teenagers killed for their

Nikes began floating around. It was believed that Nike was promoting their shoes too forcefully.

That same year Jesse Jackson attacked Nike for not having any African-Americans on its board or among its vice-presidents, despite

the fact that its customer base was in large part black. Jackson’s Nike boycott lasted until a black board member was appointed.

There has also been a controversy around whether Knight’s use of Asian factory workers as cheap labour s exploitative.

Through all of the bad press that has been foisted on Nike through these events, Nike shoes have continued to sell well. And in

1993, The Sporting News voted Knight “the most powerful man in sports” though he was neither a player nor a manager. Knight’s

marketing mastery is to be lauded and regarded as a major factor in his impressive successes.

All sports come with the inherent risk of injury. You are putting your body through so much strain and stress, eventually somewhere and some how there will be an injury. Every player of every sport will get an injury of some type during their playing career. The only question is how serious this injury will be. Some players get season or ever career ending injuries. Others experience only minor ones.

Basketball is a sport where ankle and knee injuries occur a lot. It is only logical. The players are constantly running up and down the court. They are starting and stopping very quickly. They make turns and cuts like 98 percent of the population could never do. All that pounding, stress and abuse on the ankles.

You can do something to help protect your ankles and knees. What you can do is wear a good quality high top basketball shoe.

A high top basketball shoe will give your ankle that extra support. Extra support is a good thing. The more support you have, the less chance of an injury. What does an ankle injury have to do with your knees? If you injure the ankle, the knee will most likely be twisted at the same time. By protecting your ankles, you are also protecting your knees.

There are different degrees of ankle injuries. So to keep them at the minimal level, make sure you have a good quality shoe that provides sufficient support. You may even want to consider taping the ankles up just for that extra protection.

The longer a player plays, the more stress they put on their lower extremities. More stress over a very long period of time will eventually lead to an injury. Our bodies are not indestructible. Even though athletes think they are.

Do your research when buying a sporting shoe. Make sure it is the real deal and will provide the support to keep you on the court.